Corruption should be fought whatever the system and whatever the circumstances. Much has been said about the economic and non-economic damage caused to society by this misuse of government power.

Its many harmful effects include an increased tax burden, unsound strategic decision-making, a decline in the quality of public services, an exodus of investment, distortion of competition, damage to the environment and the absence of controls that have been taken over by the government.

But are there any additional reasons to eradicate corruption in a society governed by liberal principles? While the prospect of higher taxation is in itself reason enough, there are other ways in which government malfeasance harms society that are just as or even more important than the economic burden.

There is a close link between corruption and the growth of the government bureaucracy. This increase in the size of government includes the proliferation of laws and other regulations designed to control the lives of a country’s citizens.

This puts citizens in a position where they are permanently in breach of some law or other. There is nothing better for a corrupt public official than a citizen who has broken the law, since this allows them to sell this citizen an official pardon, the exception to the rule. 

However, this same set-up also plays into the hands of tyrants, rarely known for their subtlety, enabling them to manufacture offences so that they can persecute whoever they wish, almost invariably members of the opposition.

One of the challenges for a liberal government and civil society is to untangle the morass of regulations constraining the lives of the country’s people. They must focus on this and on mathematical simplification, i.e. on reducing the number of regulations down to the minimum required to ensure compliance with the values implicit in the Constitution, but no more. This might involve setting up a parliamentary committee devoted exclusively to this task, with input from representatives of business and civil society, both of which have to endure the oppressive effects of over-regulation on a daily basis.

Corruption also results in the concentration of power. The separation of powers ceases to exist because legislators and judges are bribed by the people in executive or administrative positions. Liberal governments must avoid falling into the trap of imagining that the concentration of power can be used to good ends.